The original film debuted at TIFF back in September 2011, won the Midnight Madness Award, and went on to theatres in the spring of 2012. And since then, it’s gained pretty much overnight cult status as one of the best action/martial arts films in recent memory.
Production has officially begun, with Gareth Evans once more directing from his own script, and leading man Iko Uwais returning to take the lead.
“Picking up right where the first film ends, The Raid 2 follows Rama (Uwais) as he goes undercover and infiltrates the ranks of a ruthless Jakarta crime syndicate in order to protect his family and uncover the corruption in his own police force.”
And starring alongside Uwais will be Tio Pakusadewo, Putra Arifin Scheunamann, Julie Estelle, Alex Abbad, and Roy Marten.
The film is scheduled to shoot for over 100 days, and you can imagine that means we’ve got plenty more intense and immense action to look forward to from the sequel.
No word yet on a firm release date, but Evans states in the press release below that he’ll be back in 2014, so we’ve got at least another year to wait. Smart money says it’s going to be more than worth it. For now, here are the first images, which you can click to enlarge, followed by the press release.
Los Angeles, CA (January 31, 2013) – PT Merantau Films and XYZ Films announce the start of production for THE RAID 2 (Indonesian title, THE RAID 2: BERANDAL), the sequel to the wildly popular international hit THE RAID (aka THE RAID: REDEMPTION). The film reunites writer/director Gareth Huw Evans with actor Iko Uwais, who will be reprising his starring role. Ario Sagantoro is producing for PT Merantau Films, along with Nate Bolotin, Nick Spicer, Aram Tertzakian and Todd Brown for XYZ Films. Executive producing are Rangga Maya Barack-Evans and Irwan D. Mussry.
In addition to Uwais, the international cast includes Tio Pakusadewo, Putra Arifin Scheunamann, Julie Estelle, Alex Abbad and Roy Marten. The film is currently lensing in Jakarta, Indonesia and is scheduled to shoot for over 100 days. Line producing the film is Daiwanne Ralie, with Matthew Flannery and Dimas Imam Subhono serving as directors of photography.
Picking up right where the first film ends, The Raid 2 follows Rama (Uwais) as he goes undercover and infiltrates the ranks of a ruthless Jakarta crime syndicate in order to protect his family and uncover the corruption in his own police force.
The Raid premiered at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival, where it took home the Audience Award in the Midnight Madness section. It went on to play at Sundance and SXSW, before enjoying a theatrical release in the United States through Sony Pictures Classics. The film is approaching $15M in global box office.
XYZ and PT Mereantau Films are also in post-production on KILLERS, which is co-directed by Timo Tjahjanto and Kimo Stamboel, with Gareth Huw Evans and Rangga Maya Barack-Evans executive producing . Evans and Tjahjanto recently collaborated on SAFE HAVEN, a celebrated segment in the horror anthology film S-VHS, which just premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
XYZ Films recently premiered Calvin Lee Reeder’s THE RAMBLER at Sundance as well.
“We’re incredibly excited to start the next chapter of The Raid story,” said XYZ Films. “Gareth introduced a rich and fertile world in the first film, and we’re eager to see him expand on that vision with Berandal.”
“To all our fans thank you so much for your support. We can’t wait to come back and show you what we have been working on,” said writer/director Gareth Evans. “We’ll be there in 2014 with a film bigger, better and bloodier! Wish us luck.”
Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions (SPWA) acquired the film for the United States, Spain, Latin America and South Africa, and Sony Pictures Classics will once again release the film theatrically in the United States.
Have to say Kenji, when I finally got to see The Raid on Blu-ray a few months ago I was very disappointed, after all the raves I’d read; it was far too much like a videogame. More of an effort at a plot would have helped (and I love martial arts films).
Couldn’t disagree more Ian. I thought it was astonishing! My one issue was watching both The Raid and Dredd in the same week. They’re so similar that Dredd suffered for me. Had i watched them further apart, I’d have loved Dredd even more I think but The Raid was one of my favourite movies of 2012.
Plot, in martial arts films, is only slightly more necessary than in it is porn.
Should one prove to be good, it is a bonus.
The Raid was excellent.
It didn’t seem obvious at the end, however, how such bottled fury could be topped.
Of course, the press release contains much goodness and is cause for optimism.
It states, “Gareth introduced a rich and fertile world”.
Do not to look for the plot of a martial arts film to be miraculous. Rather, look for it to facilitate.
The word, for sequels to good openers, is “potential”.
There can’t be much more, for a sequel to The Raid, than in the words:
“he goes undercover and infiltrates the ranks of a ruthless Jakarta crime syndicate”.
Sequels are rarely better than originals, but this one could be.
I look forward to it.
Ian, The Raid was made partly to answer those who criticise Merantau for spending too much time on plot and character development. They want more glorious deadly silat on the show. Well, I’m sure Evans realizes that he can’t make everyone happy. This time he chose a wafer thin plot to give more time for his silat stunt team to show off their skills. I personally like Merantau more than The Raid.